Ushguli

Ushguli

Ushguli
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Upper Svaneti
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Type Cultural
Criteria iv, v
Reference 709
UNESCO region Europe
Inscription history
Inscription 1996 (20th Session)


Ushguli (Georgian: უშგული) is a community of four villages located at the head of the Enguri gorge in Svaneti, Georgia.[1] Ushguli is part of the Upper Svaneti UNESCO World Heritage Site,[2] and is considered to be the highest continuously inhabited settlement in Europe.[3][4]

Location and features

Ushguli is located at an altitude of 2,410 metres (7,910 ft) near the foot of Shkhara, one of the highest summits of the Greater Caucasus mountains. About 70 families (about 200 people) live in the area, enough to support a small school. The area is snow-covered for 6 months of the year, and often the road to Mestia is impassable.

Typical Svaneti defensive towers are found throughout the village. The Ushguli Chapel located on a hilltop near the village dates back to the 12th century.

The Mikhail Kalatozov silent film documentary Salt for Svanetia was filmed in Ushguli.

Constituent villages of Ushguli

 Zhibiani (Georgian: ჟიბიანი) some 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) above sea level;
 Chvibiani or Chubiani (Georgian: ჩვიბიანი);
 Chazhashi or Chajashi (Georgian: ჩაჟაში);
 Murqmeli (Georgian: მურყმელი).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Svaneti and Its Inhabitants, Roland Topchishvili
  2. ↑ World Heritage List - Upper Svaneti, 1993-10-28
  3. ↑ Village Ushguli, Georgia, National Geographic, Retrieved: 7 March 2016
  4. ↑ Michael Spilling, Winnie Wong. Cultures of the World: Georgia. Marshall Cavendish: 2008, p. 10

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ushguli.

Coordinates: 42°55′04″N 43°00′56″E / 42.917797°N 43.015672°E / 42.917797; 43.015672

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